Healthconnex in Bible Hill

Medical Appointment and Health Record System Has
Bible Hill Doctor’s Patients Saving Valuable Time

System Soon to be Rolled Out Across Nova Scotia

Oct 30, 2015

BIBLE HILL, NS

The Nova Scotia Cooperative Council’s HealthConnex system for booking medical appointments is producing positive changes for a Truro-area doctor. Dr. Manoj Vohra has high praise for HealthConnex after two months of using it.

“It’s really about patient focus,” says Dr. Vohra. “It’s as simple as A-B-C. The technology has been available, and now people can actually use it so they can plan their day. Once patients see how easy it is to do, they want to use it. “

Dianne Kelderman is President and CEO of the Nova Scotia Cooperative Council, which is spearheading the system on behalf of its credit union and cooperative members. Patients log onto Dr. Vohra’s website and immediately connect to his office appointment system.

“HealthConnex is an online clinic. In that clinic, there are various functions. One of them is appointment booking, another is billing and the other important one is personal health records,” says Kelderman. “It allows families to input and manage their own information. People having electronic records will enjoy the portability of having their health record accessible to any health care professional across the province, or even across the globe.”

Kelderman and Dr. Vohra say if you’re in the Dominican or Jamaica, or anywhere, your health care provider can log into HealthConnex.ca and view your personal health record.

“I’ve always believed that patients should oversee their health records to make sure they’re accurate. They should be informed of the content of their own health records,” says Dr. Vohra.
“This system being used by Doctor Vohra is already doing what the provincial government’s ‘one patient-one record strategy’ hopes to do,” says Kelderman. “It puts a person’s total health record all in one place and has the ability to connect to multiple systems and healthcare providers.

The designers of HealthConnex say it’s perfectly safe. Kelderman says that means it has the same level of security as online banking.

“Privacy and security is always a concern when there’s online activity of any kind,” she says. “We have ensured that our HealthConnex security system equals or exceeds the peace of mind that people get from online banking. “

Since his is a walk-in clinic, Dr. Vohra says his patients have been excited to be able to book their appointments ahead of time.

Dr. Vohra admits to dealing with a few minor adjustments, but points out that he and his staff continue to find ways to customize HealthConnex to better suit the needs of their patients, and it’s a continual improvement process as they learn its capabilities.

“We’re at the point where 95 per cent of the HealthConnex online system is working extremely well for us,” he says. “I like to see things streamlined, where the patient comes online and there are three clicks and it’s all looked after. The feedback from our patients has been really positive. Once a patient gets a user name, they can book their own convenient appointment time in only 3 minutes.”

Dr. Vohra says it’s valuable to the patients, but also helps him determine the resources the clinic is going to need on any given day.

“We’ve changed the dynamic of our walk-in clinic so that after only two short months, we’re down to just five or six walk-in patients per day,” he says. “I see the online system becoming a mainstay as patients become more comfortable with booking online. It empowers the patient because there’s no more waiting for a doctor.”

“We have been an advocate for patient involvement in their own care for more than a decade. We worked hard to engage patients and physicians, and Healthconnex is the platform that does just that,” says Kelderman. “We intend to roll it out to other clinics across the province. Nova Scotia can be a leader in patient centric care and in delivering care in a new modern way. HealthConnex can make that happen, today”.